The invention disclosed herein relates to electrical relays. It especially relates to the many thousands of electrical relays used in industry to control in orderly sequence the machines used in all kinds of manufacturing operations, but it also relates to all relays used in materials processing, material handling, elevator control, metalworking, business machines and electronic equipment, etc. Such relays, being used often in great quantities even in one manufacturing operation, are prone to failure and to cause shutdowns of such operations because if even one of such relays breaks down often the whole operation must stop. The part of the relay which fails most often is the coil. In such cases it is usually necessary to shut down the whole operation until the defective relay can be repaired. In such repair it is usually necessary to disconnect many electrical leads from the relay and either substitute a new relay or repair the old one. In the meantime all operations must stop. The relays in use usually include a solenoid having an electrical coil and a core and a plurality of switches. The core itself may be a movable member operative (when the coil is energized by electrical energy or is de-energized) to open some switches and close others to continue the manufacturing operation. Or there may be a separate movable member similarly operative upon the energizing or de-energizing of the electrical coil.
With the many, many thousands of relays in use in manufacturing operations (mechanical, electrical and chemical) and the great amount of time lost by shutdowns, the saving in energy by the use of my Quick Repair Apparatus is tremendous.
2. Prior Art
Many prior art patents relate to relays and to their use in controlling electrical circuits in manufacturing operations. A search disclosed the following U.S. Patents which bear some relation to the subject matter disclosed herein.
Scheib, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,728;
Bundy et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,534;
Gubble et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,686;
Scheib, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,378;
Marren U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,723;
Fiyita U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,349;
Puetz et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,190;
McGary U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,589.
We were unable in our search to find a specific disclosure of a special device providing a coil which snaps on over a defective coil thereby very quickly and effectively replacing it temporarily until it can be further repaired.